Nut lock



I. B. LESLIE NUT LOCK April 2, 1935.

Filed Jan. 20, 1934 7? v INVENTOR Irvine fi-Leslie,

BY M QQWM M r ATTORNEYS qJnTNESg'E)? Z r Patented Apr. 2, 1935 r a l I I I 1,996,727 r 1\i u'rLocK W' Irvine B. Lcslie,Nevvberry, S. C.,'assignor to Gotdon S..Leslie, Newberry', S. G; Application Januar lzc, 1934 s rial No. "101.59 1 8 Claims. :(Cl.1 l1-'-31i um'reo sTAres A- sNroFncE This invention relates to improvements in nut The .underlyingpurpose ofthe invention is to looks and self-locking screws, and its objects provide an effective nut lock or self-locking screw, are as follows:-'- in which the utmostsimplicity of construction 'First, to provide the threaded end of, the bolt has been observed so that standard bolts and 5 with .an off-center slot running lengthwise of nuts can. easily; be modified accordin to the 15 the bolt shank so as to producewhatis herein principle of the 'invention'andconverted ,into" called a spring tongue, theetunction of this'spring highly efdoient devices tor-the underlying pur- I tongue being to snap into a cam recess in the nut pose. The main object'soughttobe attained is upon turning the nut in one direction, said recess a permanent connection of the nut with its bolt,

10 having a shoulder which isadapted to abut the or the bolt with someQother part into which it Q spring tongue and prevent relative turningof the has beeniscrewed, said connection being proof H I nut and -bolt inthe opposite directions; 7 against .jarringloos'e and against disconne tion Second, to bevel the trailing edge of the spring until some iothermeans has been brought into tongue and to correspondingly undercut the play for-aidingthe disconnection;

I5 shoulder so that when an attempt is madeat With thisiprinciple. in mindflthe invention is unscrewing either the bolt or nut the bevel and particularly well adapted. to securingj aw'license undercutwill move togethermore firmly with a plate to=a bracket; but according to another wedge action to make'the connection of the nut principle of the invention the nutand bolthave and bolt more tight than before. provision for establishing a permanent connec- Third, to provide'a closed nut for use in contion? which. can be brokeri only by destroying junction with the bolt so as to prevent pressing either the boltor nut beyond further use. the spring tongue against the bolt for thepur- All. this will be made clear from thedrawing. pose of clearing the'c'am recess, said nut having InFigln'e ltheboltgenerallydesignated i is of provision, however, for enabling compression of original construction insofar as itshead Zjs'hank the spring tongue as :fuliy brought out below. 3 and threads 4 are'concerned. This is also true Fourtnto use the foregoing bolt in conjunction of the nut 5 and its threaded bore 6. The not 5 .with a closed. threaded bore whichmay comprise takes various forms, and for the purpose of either a closed nut or some other mechanical part, identifying it with a broad designation it is later provision'being again made for compressing-the called them'ember into which the bolt is screwed.

tongueso as to clear the cam recess when .un- .In modifyinglthe bolt l according to the invenscl'ewing the tl 1 tion thershankl is slotted at l lengthwise and Fifth, to use a key of some sort-in conjunction elf-center. 'Ihe slot'may extendias far as parwith the bolt'and nut when once screwed. home. ticular conditions may demand either part way so as to permanently expand the spring tongue of the length'of the shank orall the way. This '35 inthe cam recess and prevent separation of the is controlled mainly'by the amount of threads. nut and boltwithout actually-twisting one off of '4, because generally the slot] goes as farv as the e o her. 7 threads; slot produces atongue 8 which the draWing:- v i has a material 'de'greeof' springiness because itis Figure 1- is-a perspective view of the improved so much thinner than the remainder of the 40 nut lock, particularly showing the relationship of shankt3.

the spring tongue'of the bolt to the cam. recessin Its springinessis increased by bowing or-bendthe nut. I ing it in the original manufacture-by'moving an Figure 2 is a front elevation ofthe bolt and nut. implement of a suitable sort along the slot 1.

' Figure 3 is a'detail side elevation. i This gives the tongue a sort of a flare as sug- Figure 4 1s a sectional view showing the closed gested'in Figures 3 to 6, and the resulting offset,

type "of, nut, this particular arrangement. being from the main part of the shankis" the chief aid especially adapted for securing a license plate on to urging the tongue .into locking engagement a bracket. V with the nut 5." The trailingedge-S of the tongue Figure 5 illustrates the use of thebolt insecuia 8'is'bevelled at H). Thetrailing edge is so-called ing the oil pan to a crank case; the principle inbecause this particular boltis predicated on a volved here being similar to thatof Figure 4. right hand thread. V t

Figure 6 is a view on the order of Figure 4, Referring nowto thenut, itsbore Gisreceslsed illustrating the use of a driven key for the purat Its The recessvis eccentrically disposed with po'seof permanently wedging the spring tongue respect to the bore'so'that it constitutes a cam in the cam recess. V recess. 'The'point of mergence l2 of thelrecess 7 counter-clockwise. In such a case the twosurw faces will ride against each otherwith a cam} action, driving the trailing edge 9 deeper intothe recess ii at the shoulder i 3, and making a more firm connection between the spring tongue 18 and nut 5 than if the particular arrangement of;

the bevel and undercut hadnot been adopted. Thus farit will be understood that'as'lon'g as the nut or the bolt is'turned in the rightdirec:

tion the spring tongue 8 will snap into'the recess H at every turn. .-As the.turn inthat direction continues the cam 'iZgwill compressthe 'spring tongue. "Inasmuch as "the springtongue snaps into the recess once every turn it follows that a reverse turn will drive the spring: tongue hard against 7 the shoulder I3 as has already been broughtout. In suchformsof the nut look as I in Figures 1,2-and3 -where the'spring tongue 8 remains exposed, saidspring tongue is readily compressed by means of 'pinchers or some other appropriate implement when it is-desired to removethe nut. But=in theotheriiorms of the device such an expedient is'not intended.

In Figure 4 the bolt3 is to be consideredidenti'cal with'the boltinFigureB in all respects excepting the-unimportant difference in length.

The bolt-is made considerably shorter here tosuit the requirements of 'aflixing the license plate to the bracket l5. It isjto beunde'rstoodthatthis type of bolt and nuticanfbeused for other purposes, the one usegbeing 5 given merely for illustration;

' The nut-5 is now' of the closed type, that'is to say, the end of the; nut isnot open as in Figures l,- 2 and;3. TButthis nut hasia camrecess- H which if viewed incross section would be identical information to theshowing in Figure 2. It is readily seen' thatbhaving screwed the .nut "-5 home there would be noway of 'subsequentlyremoving it fromQthe-bolt other than bycutting or, mutilation, so in order to enable removal the nut'is made with a hole "11 very close'to its'base and almost all the way through intothe' cam recess', only a veryfthin wall l8remaining.- 1 f Now upon desiring to remove the nut .a suitable implement 19 is inserted inthe' hole I! and driven against the wall I8 until'the latter is broken down.. The point of thekimplement, and the intervening thin'wall, compress the spring tongue out of. engagement with the shoulder (equivalent to l3-,.'Fig. 2 ),.restoringjthe bore 6 to thenormal dimension at this point, and super seding the cam'recess H as, long as the implement remains in the hole. The bolt 3 can then be unscrewed or, .what "is the samething, the nut 5 Qanbe backedoff I This principle 'iis carried forward into Figure 5 -which illustratesthe useof the bolt S for securing an oil panic .to'a crank case 2|. -=Both here and in Figure ift-hememberrinto which the bolt is screwed is to be identified-with'theoriginal nut 5. The threaded bore-has a, cam'recessi l as in'the other two instances, andlsince the spring tongue 8? is intendedntosnap into this,

removal is impossible until a suitable V imple- 1,99e,727 v V ment is thrust into a hole 22 .for the purpose of compressing the spring tongue and. enabling unscrewing the bolt. Ordinarily this hole is plugged up with a headed rivet 23 or the like. Figure ,6 illustrates a modification according to which use is made of a key 24 for the purpose of making a permanent connection between the bolt 3 and nut The nut' and bolt are to be regarded as the same nut and bolt shown in Figure 4. The section is taken the other way around, 1 and therefore reveals the bevel 16 which would not show, in Figure 4. The nut 5 is provided with one or moreapertures 25, intended to registerwith the slot 1, and when thenut is finally screwed home the key 24 is inserted and driven into the'slot 7 as far as desired, a portion of it remaining'in the aperture 25. It is readily seen that neither the nut nor the bolt can be unscrewed with respect to the other without mutilation to the point of destruction.

The foregoing description is predicated on the use 'of a single otf-center-slot in the bolt shank.

This will be adhered to in most instancesso as to: retain the advantage of the relatively-large expanse of thread surface on the stifi part ofthe .bolt shank. But it is possible to slot'the shank with .pa'rallelslots, eachv off-center, to produce two spring tongues. In aninstancesuch as'this the nut can be provided withtwo cam recesses diametrically opposite from each. other.

'Iiclaim:-;-

I 1. A nut lockcomprising a threaded bolt shank having a longitudinal slot. off-center with respect to the axis of the shank'providing a tongue integralwith the shank, said tongue being bowed substantially its entire length to constitute a spring'tonguaand a member into which the bolt is screwed having-athreadedzbore to receive the shank and a recess in communication with the bore to receive the spring "tongue, the point of -me'rgence of the recess with the bore comprising azcamzto depress the spring tongue upon turning the nut in one direction, the other end-of the recess: providing a shoulder abuttable by the tongue uponreversely turning the nut.

1 :2. A nut lock comprising 'a threaded bolt shank having a longitudinalslot off-center'with respect to the 'axisof the shank providing a tongue integral :with. the shank, said tongue being offset to'ic'onstitute a spring tongue, and amember into'which the bolt is screwed having a threaded bore to receive the shank and arecess in communication with the boreto receive the spring tongue, the pointof mergence of the recesswith the bore comprising a cam to depress the spring tongue upon relative turning the nut and member in one direction, the other end of therecess providing a shoulder abuttable by the tongue upon reverse relative turning, said abuttable part of the tongue being bevelled, and the shoulder being correspondingly undercut to set up a wedge action upon said reverse turning. I

3. 'A' nut lock comprising a threaded bolt shank having an integral off-centered spring tongue with a bevelled trailing edge, and a. nut having a. threaded bore to screw on the shank, the bore having a cam recess into which the tongue is springable, said recess having an undercut shoulder adapted to receive said trailing edge and set up a wedge action upon a reverse turn of the nut; Y i

having" an off-centered spring tongue, a closed nut having a threaded bore; said nut being I screwed onto the shank to close 01f access to the 4. 'Anut lock comprising a threaded bolt shank end of the shank, said bore having at least one cam recess with a shoulder to receive the spring tongue and compose a lock.

5. A nut lock comprising a. threaded bolt shank having an off-centered spring tongue, a closed nut having a threaded here, said nut being screwed onto the shank to close or: access to the end of the shank, said bore having a cam recess with a shoulder to receive the spring tongue and compose a lock, and means embodied in the nut enabling the compression of the spring-tongue out.

of the recess so that'the nutcan be unscrewed from the bolt.

6. A nut lock comprising a threaded bolt shank having an off-centered spring tongue, a closed nut having a threaded bore, said nut being screwed onto the shank to close ofi access to the end of the shank, said bore having a cam recess with a shoulder to receive'the spring tongue and compose a lock, said nut having a hole nearits base leaving a thin wall between the hole and. the cam recess, said wall being displaceable by drivprising-a threaded bolt shank, with an ofi-cen- I ter spring tongue, and a member having a threaded bore into which thershank is screwed,

ing in an implement to compress. the spring said bore having a cam recess into which the spring tongue snaps upon turning the shank in one direction, the recess including a shoulder against which the tongue is abuttable upon reverse turning of the shank, said member having a hole for the insertion of an implement into the cam recess to compress the spring tongue out of the recess. l 1

8. A nut lock oomprisinga threaded bolt shank having an off-centered sl'otproducing a spring tongue, a nut having a threaded bore into which the shank is screwed, said bore having a cam 

